4 Day Week?

[Merlin4458]

yeh i think there should be a lot more leniency in how u work those hours. It shouldnt be 9 til 5-30 mon to fri. As long as what u have on your plate gets done as well as other things for that week you should be aloud to manage your time within reason. I think id prefer the monday tuesday wed off thursday friday, sat sun off

[usxhe190]

why go for a 4 day week - should go all out

2 day week with 5 day weekends!

[Stringent]

^^ I think thats a bit extreme!!

Also if you have young kids, if the man and wife worked 4 day week, but have a different day off, thats only three days needed for child care!

One downside is if you call in sick, thats more time lost for the employer though. Bah.

[Jay]

I couldn't do it. We already work the longest hours in Europe, squeezing that into one less day would lead to shoddy work.

[Dreaming]

At my last job we could do this, and they had a special arrangement where if you worked 'compressed' hours as it was called you got overall extra benefits.

Most people opt for the norm though, personal lives and all that.

[Kumagoro]

I think a 4 and a half day week would be realistic. Early day on friday so it feels like a long weekend.

I dont think that the little bit longer on the 4 days would make much difference to how well you could
work. Also I dont think you should have to take your full breaks in a day. I have to take an hour and
a half worth of breaks everyday which for me feels like a waste of time, I would rather go home earlier.

[Salazaar]

I think a 4 and a half day week would be realistic. Early day on friday so it feels like a long weekend.

I dont think that the little bit longer on the 4 days would make much difference to how well you could
work. Also I dont think you should have to take your full breaks in a day. I have to take an hour and
a half worth of breaks everyday which for me feels like a waste of time, I would rather go home earlier.

I've got a few friend who work for local councils which have very good flexi-time, so long as you work your 37.5 hours (and no more! This is the local government ) they don't really mind. Lots of people end up taking very early Fridays or a day or two off each month.

[ACiD303]

as much as I'd be up for it personally, and I frequently did this on jobs that offered flexitime, I wouldn't want it to become the norm. I got used to the longer hours, but it also saved me money as I wasn't so eager to do something at night that cost money - mainly because I was so shattered and I had to wake up even earlier the next day.

Imagine a cheque (yeah yeah, I know, who still uses them) clearing - up to 4 working days to clear...and most of my cheques clear within a couple of days, but still, that's like giving the bank a whole week to comply including the weekend! Similarly with anywhere else that relied on "working days" to clear their work for you.

[JK Ferret]

Well there are a lot of companies that run 7 day weeks anyway (like the one I work in, gambling ), so a 4-day week wouldn't really affect them... all we'd see is more people with more time (maybe more business then? hmm... )

I'm contracted for 30 hrs a week over 5 days (that's 6hrs a day). Personally, those hours are hard work (but mostly only when it's quiet), I really don't think that extra hours are what I'd want.

I suppose that how you prefer your hours over the week really depends on what you do, if you enjoy it and the time goes fast, then sure, take the extra hours and extra day off. However, if you find that time drags by with you sitting on your hands, or that the work tires you out in the time you already work, leave it.

If your chioce is the former, and your colleagues feel the same, perhaps a word with the manager is in order

EDIT: Wow. Can't remember EVER replying to a post before with that much to say

[funkydim]

Its practically a 4 day week in London anyway. The pubs are rammed on Friday lunch time. I dont think any work gets done in the afternoon after 5 pints are downed.

[scruffy]

Its practically a 4 day week in London anyway. The pubs are rammed on Friday lunch time. I dont think any work gets done in the afternoon after 5 pints are downed.

My old boss used to be his best work after 5 pint lunchtimes, he'd send one of us back after 3 or 4 to man the phones then if it was quiet he'd call us back (our round obviously).

If he had to work, he'd probably have a conference call with the States at 2 when they wake up so he'd have a kip in his office with it on mute. However, as soon as anyone mentioned his name he'd spring to life and be bang on the money with his response - then go back to sleep. His wife would collect him at the end of the afternoon, and he'd be made to sit in the back because he was a liability. LOL.

Ah thems were the days

[greektony]

I already do a 4 day week every other week :-) Tis great having the Friday off and being able to bum people out :-)

Mwhahahaha

[tiggerai]

I loved the hours on my Year in industry...

Core 10-12 and 2-4 then flexi the rest of the time... so a couple of extra hours mon-thurs meant come in at 10, 2 hour lunch and leave at 4 on a friday...

Not a lot of work got done between 2-4 when us studes had been to the pubbage! hehe

[dangel]

I have every other monday off - flex time is excellent

I only do it to help save the planet!

[Nick]

Nope, it'll never work.

When the govt enforced the working time initiative a few years back when I was cheffing, we had to adhere to a 39 hour week, (this was before the legal crew found that we could ask staff to 'opt out').

So we all went onto 4 day weeks but it was a disaster. People are naturally a bit slow to get going after their days off, so Monday (for the sake of the argument, it could've been any day as long as it;s the first one after a day off) would see most people just getting up to speed on what happened on their days off.

Tuesday would be ok but by Wednesday afternoon the cruise mode was setting in.

Thursday was ok in the morning but the second shift (we worked splits) was a nightmare as whoever was off the next day was thinking of nothing but what they were going to do for three days.

Then there were the other problems such as a three day break meaning staff decided to pop back to see their folks, which might be miles away, and not get back for the start of their shift due to transport problems... Or they might go out and get absolutely plastered for the firt two days and still not be in a fit state to work after a day of not drinking.

In the end the legal guys came through and everyone signed up, most didn't even need to be asked twice, they all hated that 'out of it' feeling you get having been away from work for too long... it was like coming back from a holiday every week and not knowing what the hell was going on.

[Stringent]

It depends on the job though I guess. it has its advantages and disadvantages. I still think companies should be more flexible with times. The government wants to reduce traffic and rush hour, well the majority of jobs AND schools start around 8-9-30 so of course lots of traffic at one particular point in time. Anyway, traffic and travel is a subject in its own!